Building endurance.

For the past 4+ years I've been incredibly lazy and now I'm super out of shape, not over weight or anything though. I recently grew tired of my shitty life style so I started looking into some things to do and after doing lots of research on the military I decided I wanted to join the marines. This little back story is just to help you guys to get what's going on.

I've got about 4-5 months before I leave for boot camp and I want to use this time to get in the best possible shape in the time given. I started working out about a month ago and this is what I've been doing so far:

Weight lifting.. a few sets of light weights a day
Leg workouts.. ^
and I've been walking about 2-3 miles a day and throwing in about 30 seconds of running(I get winded really fast)

I'm just trying to build my endurance up not get all super beefy. Is this a decent way to start out?

Also; a few other questions.

Does walking really help at all?
Is protein important for what I'm trying to accomplish?
And pretty much just whatever tips you can give me to help build endurance.

I don't do much exercise as I don't really need to, but I do walk almost everyday. Richard Simmons said 10k steps a day which is about 5 miles, get a pedometer if you need to track yourself. If you or someone you know has a pool you can also swim laps or run in it also.

Interval training is a good way to start, run for 30 seconds at a full sprint (or as close to it as you can maintain for thirty seconds), then walk for 60 seconds, repeat. If this gets to where its easy, step it up to 60/120. I joined the army back in February and we did a lot of this in basic training, and I took nearly 3 minutes off my 2 mile time.

For the past 4+ years I've been incredibly lazy and now I'm super out of shape, not over weight or anything though. I recently grew tired of my shitty life style so I started looking into some things to do and after doing lots of research on the military I decided I wanted to join the marines. This little back story is just to help you guys to get what's going on.

I've got about 4-5 months before I leave for boot camp and I want to use this time to get in the best possible shape in the time given. I started working out about a month ago and this is what I've been doing so far:

Weight lifting.. a few sets of light weights a day
Leg workouts.. ^
and I've been walking about 2-3 miles a day and throwing in about 30 seconds of running(I get winded really fast)

I'm just trying to build my endurance up not get all super beefy. Is this a decent way to start out?

Also; a few other questions.

Does walking really help at all?
Is protein important for what I'm trying to accomplish?
And pretty much just whatever tips you can give me to help build endurance.

High Intensity Interval Training.

Start at like a 4 to 1 or 3 to 1 ration. So if you can run at 80-90% max for 15 seconds, then jog/walk for either 45 secs (3 to 1) or 60 (4 to 1). Do 4-5 rounds at the start and increase it every week. Once it starts getting to easy at that ratio you can drop it to like 2 to 1 or 1 to 1 or maybe even 1 to 2.

If you want to build endurance you should run long distance. HIIT is in no way a bad workout (if anything it's harder than long-distance running), but you will only get good at what you train for. If you train for sprints, you will get good at sprints. If you want to be able to run 5 miles quickly, the only way to do that is to start running at least 5 miles at a time.

If you want to build endurance you should run long distance. HIIT is in no way a bad workout (if anything it's harder than long-distance running), but you will only get good at what you train for. If you train for sprints, you will get good at sprints. If you want to be able to run 5 miles quickly, the only way to do that is to start running at least 5 miles at a time.

Good to know. I will let all the cross country coaches know that their lamp post sprints and Indian runs are bad training techniques!

Are bicycles really helpful for building endurance? Like, after a while riding a bicycle a few miles a day would help be able to run further without getting tired? I haaate running right now so any alternative to that would be cool.

Are bicycles really helpful for building endurance? Like, after a while riding a bicycle a few miles a day would help be able to run further without getting tired? I haaate running right now so any alternative to that would be cool.

I'm not too positive. I know biking builds cardio like running which helps with endurance, but I also know that biking tightens the hamstrings and running loosens them. I just prefer biking entirely because I see more per energy used. However, I do know that to expend the same amount of energy you need to bike further than you run. I've heard anywhere from 3:1 to 6:1 thrown out, and I'd wager it's closer to 6:1.

Are bicycles really helpful for building endurance? Like, after a while riding a bicycle a few miles a day would help be able to run further without getting tired? I haaate running right now so any alternative to that would be cool.

There is very little carry over from biking to running. See Lance Armstrong running his first marathon. They work your body much differently. If you need to build running endurance, then you need to run.

I'm not too positive. I know biking builds cardio like running which helps with endurance, but I also know that biking tightens the hamstrings and running loosens them. I just prefer biking entirely because I see more per energy used. However, I do know that to expend the same amount of energy you need to bike further than you run. I've heard anywhere from 3:1 to 6:1 thrown out, and I'd wager it's closer to 6:1.

It really depends. In order to bike as hard as you can run, you really need to spend a significant amount of money to get a quality bike that allows you to get sufficient leverage. It is almost impossible for me to get a workout on the bikes I own so I only use them for traveling.

It really depends. In order to bike as hard as you can run, you really need to spend a significant amount of money to get a quality bike that allows you to get sufficient leverage. It is almost impossible for me to get a workout on the bikes I own so I only use them for traveling.

Not really, to get like a 3:1 you only need to pull like 13mph average. That's pretty easily attainable. In addition, good bikes are somewhat cheap ($500-800 USD) whereas the great ones are a few thousand.

Not really, to get like a 3:1 you only need to pull like 13mph average. That's pretty easily attainable. In addition, good bikes are somewhat cheap ($500-800 USD) whereas the great ones are a few thousand.

Interval training is a good way to start, run for 30 seconds at a full sprint (or as close to it as you can maintain for thirty seconds), then walk for 60 seconds, repeat. If this gets to where its easy, step it up to 60/120. I joined the army back in February and we did a lot of this in basic training, and I took nearly 3 minutes off my 2 mile time.

What is the better way of losing weight between high interval training and running for 2 miles? If the answer is high interval training, what's the duration of a normal session?

What is the better way of losing weight between high interval training and running for 2 miles? If the answer is high interval training, what's the duration of a normal session?

HIIT supposedly increases post exercise oxidation which results in increased calories burned after working out. But 2 miles is a pretty small distance to run for weight loss. HIIT is generally done in 30-40 mins (5-10 min warm up, 20 min of hiit, 5-10 mins of cool down).